Posts made in March, 2014

New research suggests the longer attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications are used in childhood, the greater the risk of adult obesity.
Paradoxically, investigators from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that children treated with stimulants for ADHD initially experienced slower body mass index (BMI) growth than their undiagnosed or untreated peers. Then children with ADHD experience a rapid rebound of BMI that surpasses that of children with no history of ADHD or stimulant use and that could continue to obesity.
The study, thought to be the most comprehensive analysis of ADHD and stimulant use in children to date, found that the earlier the medication began, and the longer the medication was taken, the slower the BMI...

Children and teenagers with an autism spectrum disorder or attention deficit and hyperactivity problems are more likely to wish to be another gender, according to new research.
For the study, researcher John Strang, Psy.D., of the Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., analyzed data from children between the ages of six and 18. The kids either had no neurodevelopmental disorder, or were diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or a medical neurodevelopment disorder, such as epilepsy or neurofibromatosis.
The wish to be the other gender, known as gender variance, was assessed with the Child Behavior Checklist, one of the most commonly used behavioral report inventories for children...

A researcher at the University of Georgia (UGA) has identified distinct areas of brain activity that are present when making decisions.
While people make decisions daily, little is known about what happens in the brain during the decision-making process. University of Georgia associate professor of psychology Dr. James MacKillop decided to study how decisions are made, using college students and alcohol as the basis for his study.
“We were interested in understanding how the brain makes decisions about drinking alcohol. Particularly, we wanted to clarify how the brain weighs the pros and cons of drinking,” said MacKillop, who directs the Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology Laboratory in the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.
The study...